Paint roller and bearing assembly

ABSTRACT

A paint roller unit, for attachment to the spindle of a paint roller frame, comprised of a thin core having the paint applicator material fixed about the outer surface thereof and a pair of molded end caps press-fitted within the respective ends of the core, each providing a reduced diameter female bearing sleeve for bearing engagement on a pair of spaced apart inner and outer bearing elements, press-fitted on the spindle, the inner bearing element being a collet bearing which holds the roller unit in a fixed longitudinal position on the spindle. A thin walled tube, coaxially disposed about the spindle, connects between the female bearing sleeves of the inner and outer end caps.

United States Patent 91 Chapman 51 Jan.23,1973

[ PAINT ROLLER AND BEARING ASSEMBLY [75] Inventor: Paul G. Chapman, Hollywood, Fla.

[73] Assignee: Arsco Paint Rollers, Inc., Hialeah,

Fla.

[22] Filed: Sept. 30, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 185,168

[52] U.S. CI. ..15/230.l1, 300/21 [51] Int. Cl. ..A46b 7/10 [58] Field of Search ....15/230.l l, 27; 29/110.5, 116,

, Primary ExaminerLeon G. Machlin Attorney-John Cyril Malloy [57] ABSTRACT A paint roller unit, for attachment to the spindle of a paint roller frame, comprised of a thin core having the paint applicator material fixed about the outer surface thereof and a pair of molded end caps press-fitted within the respective ends of the core, each providing a reduced diameter female bearing sleeve for hearing engagement on a pair of spaced apart inner and outer bearing elements, press-fitted on the spindle, the inner bearing element being a collet bearing which holds the roller unit in a fixed longitudinal position on the spindle. A thin walled tube, coaxially disposed about the spindle, connects between the female bearing sleeves 7 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS of the inner and outer end caps. 2,891,301 6/1959 Conklin 29/1l6 R 2,935,757 5/1960 Phillips ..I5/230.11

F QREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,010,288 11/1965 Great Britain ..15/230.1l

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IIIIIIIIII II III III I INVENTOR PAUL 6. CHAPMAN HTTORA/E).

In the past, there have been paint roller units, for attachment to paint roller frames having a spindle, including a core which may be either of two types. A first type fabricated of wood, which is provided with bearings secured in the opposite ends thereof to dwell upon the spindle, and having spaced sleeve bushings for rotatably mounting the unit on the spindle. A problem with this type of a unit is that the insertion of the spindle axially through the unit is somewhat difficult because coaxial relation must be maintained in order to penetrate the opposite end of the bushing from that into which the spindle is inserted in the first place. More importantly, it will be appreciated that a central concentric bore must be made through the wooden core to accommodate the passage of the spindle and this bore must be in concentric relation in order to have true rotation of the unit relative to the spindle when applying paint to a surface. For this reason, it is not practical to make a core of any substantial length, such as six feet in length, and thence to sever from that length separate predetermined lengths, such as 6 or 9 inches, which are customarily used in applying paint. This has been attempted in the past and there is a maximum which is possible because one bore must proceed from one end of the core stock and one bore must proceed from the other end of the core stock and the two must line up in order to have a straight concentric through bore. As will be appreciated, there are limitations in the length of rollers that can be made for applying paint when such a wooden core or thick core is employed.

Also, the need to fasten a locking device on the end of the spindle to retain the wood core is a slow assembly process, and painters prefer to assemble the roller quickly and remove it quickly. There are no separate loose parts or fasteners, to retain, such as nuts, screws or washers. In actual use, such parts, if accidentally dropped or lost, makes the entire tool useless until they are replaced. Notwithstanding the disadvantages of the wooden core type paint applicators, the same have certain preferred characteristics, namely that professional painters quite often remove a unit from the spindle of their paint roller applicator and change it, providing a replacement unit so that paint from the used roller will not contaminate the paint of the next job, for instance, a white job following a black job. For another reason professional painters prefer the wooden type because there is a natural tendency in use for the unit to creep axially along the spindle and requires constant adjustment to keep it in the proper bearing relation to the spindle, however, the paint roller having the thickened wooden core body permits the use of a keeper on the terminal end of the spindle to keep the unit in place on the spindle.

The other type of roller units employed in the past have been for the purpose of mating with a cage-type spindle which is a circumferentially collapsible unit, circumposed about the spindle, which is in the form of wire or strips of metal which buckle slightly in response to radial pressure or compression caused by forcing a roller over them. For use with the cage-type spindle, thin-walled cores are provided with the applicator material on the outside thereof. For the reasons set forth above, professional painters do not prefer to employ this type of cage-type spindles because they are provided with permanent bearings and after repeated uses the bearings become worn and loaded with paint and paint residues. The cage-type spindle is extremely difficult to clean because of the many corners and trap areas due to the cage wires, while the refill unit has a single spindle which can be easily cleaned. For this reason professional painters prefer the thick core type which have their own bearings included within it.

BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION I This device of the instant invention provides a guide tube and end caps to be connected together in coaxial relation and inserted within a replaceable thin-walled core having thepaint applicator material fixed to the outer surface thereof. Certain advantages are inherent in this improved structure, namely, the end caps seal the space within the unit so that paint cannot enter it and, consequently, does not have to be removed by a solvent leaving a residue and a build-up of objectionable materials which interfere with the bearings of the unit. It also prevents paint and solvents from entering the annular space between the guide tube and the outer core which tend to slush therewithin and are difficult to.

remove and generally objectionable, causing streaking of a paint job and other deleterious effects.

This provides for a replaceable unit, made of thinwalled inexpensive materials which can be cut to any of the various lengths commonly encountered because they do not have the axial thickness of the wooden core materials. In other words, the basic stock of sleeves can be used either way by the manufacturer, as a solid core or for the sleeve type. This reduces inventory and manufacturing costs. If the end caps and the guide tube are not installed, the thin-walled core may be installed on a cage-type spindle whereas once the end caps and guide tube are inserted within it, it is adaptablefor use with the spindle type, giving a greater flexibility of storage and use. Additionally, the thin-walled unit with the end caps and guide tube makes for a lighter weight unit which results in less fatigue for the user.

The device of the present invention provides a collet bearing, press-fitted on the spindle, for engagement within the inner end cap to provide the dual functions of journaling the inner end of the unit and to hold the unit in a fixed longitudinal position on the spindle. A sleeve bearing is press-fitted on the outer end of the spindle for engagement within the outer end ,cap.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring to the drawings in which like reference numerals designate like or similar parts throughout the various views and with particular reference to FIG. 1, the paint roller assembly of the present invention is indicated generally at 10, disposed on the spindle 12 of a paint roller frame 14, the handle portion of which is broken away.

The paint roller assembly comprises a thin-walled tubular core 16 about which the paint applicator fabric 18 is fixed as by gluing, and inner and outer end caps 20 and 22 including respective female bearing sleeves 24 and 26 for bearing engagement, respectively, with a pair of bearing elements 28 and 30, press-fitted on the spindle 12.

The end caps 20 and 22 include outer annular sleeves 32 and 34 sized for frictional engagement within the respective ends 36 and 38 of the tubular core 16 and flat annular end walls 40 and 42 providing peripherally extending annular positioning shoulders 44 and 46 for engagement against the respective annular edges of the ends 36 and 38 of the core 16. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the end walls 40 and 42 connect between the outer annular sleeves 32 and 34 and the reduced diameter female bearing sleeves 24 and 26.

It should be pointed out that the end caps 20 and 22 are referred to as inner and outer end caps for identification purposes only as applied to the illustration in FIG. 1. The end caps are identical in construction and the assembly 10 can in fact be slid onto the spindle 12 from either end as will be more clearly apparent from the following description.

A tube 47 connects between the end caps 20 and 24 and as illustrated in FIG. 1, the opposed ends of the tube 47 are press-fitted over the respective bearing sleeves 24 and 26.

The collet bearing 28 is press-titted on the inner end portion of the spindle against a pair of stop lugs 4848 struck from the frame 14. An enlarged head 50 is provided on the collet bearing 28 which is adapted to abut the inner annular edge portion of the end wall 40 when the assembly is positioned on the spindle 12.

In the preferred form of the invention the end caps 40 and 42, and the bearing elements 28 and are molded of a synthetic material such as nylon and the collet bearing 28 is provided with an enlarged annular lip 52 at its outer end. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the

gitudinally extending slots 56 to form a like plurality of arcuate spring tabs 58. I

As best illustrated in FIG. 1, the diameter of the lip 52 is somewhat greater than the inner diameter of the female bearing sleeve 24 and the plurality of arcuate spring tabs 58 comprising said lipped end 52 are sprung inwardly by the application of proper forces to pass through the female bearing sleeve 24 to remove the roller assembly 10 from the spindle 12 or to replace said assembly 10 thereon.

When the roller assembly 10 is properly positioned on the spindle 12, the tabs 58 are expanded to their natural positions and the lip 52 overlies the outer annular edge 60 of the bearing sleeve 24 to prevent accidental dislocation of the roller assembly 10 along the spindle 12. Because of the identical construction of both end caps 20 and 22, the roller assembly 10 can be inserted on the spindle from either end.

The bearing element 30, in engagement with the female bearing sleeve 26, is preferably in the form of a bearing cap providing a closure 62 over the distal end of the spindle 12. This structure provides a flush end as indicated generally at 64 in FIG. 1 which is extremely desirable when painting inside corners of walls and ceilings.

The use of nylon to nylon bearings permits a tighter yet freely rotatable fit between the bearings to prevent paint from entering the inside of the roller assembly 10 and the tube 47 serves the dual functions of guiding the roller assembly onto the spindle and providing an ab solute seal between the relatively small chamber 66 about the spindle 12 and the large chamber 68 between the tube 47 and the core 16.

The collet attachment between the roller assembly 10 and the spindle 12 permits instant assembly or disassembly thereof and eliminates the necessity of separate attachment means, extending outwardly of the outer end of the roller.

The thin-walled tubular core 16 can be constructed of 'a variety of materials such as plastic or various fibrous materials and the paint applicator fabric 18 on the core 16 may be of the class which includes lambs skin, mohair and wool, or synthetic fibrous materials, such as nylon and Dynel.

What is claimed is:

1. A paint roller assembly and bearing means for use with a paint roller frame having a spindle and a handle in generally perpendicular relation to the axis of the spindle comprising:

A. a generally thin-walled annular core of rigid material having,

I. paint applicator material covering the outer surface thereof;

B. a pair of end caps each having 1. an outer annular sleeve for frictional engagement in a respective end of said core, and

2. an inner reduced diameter female bearing sleeve;

C. a first hearing means, press-fitted on the inner end of the spindle for a rotating engagement within said female bearing sleeve of one of'said end caps and including,

1. collet means to maintain the paint roller assembly in a predetermined position on the spindle during normal usage;

D. a second bearing means, press-fitted on the outer end of the spindle for a rotating engagement within said female bearing sleeve of the second of said end caps.

2. The device as set forth in claim 1 including a tube extending between said end caps, each of the opposed ends of which is press-fitted over one of said female bearing sleeves.

3. The device as set forth in claim 2 wherein the surface of each of said end caps, intermediate and con- .necting said outer sleeve and inner female bearing sleeve, is solid, presenting a continuous sealing surface for the chamber between said core and tube.

4. The device as set forth in claim 1 wherein each of said end caps and first and second bearing means is of a molded plastic material, such as nylon.

5. The device as set forth in claim 4 in which said collet means comprises a plurality of arcuate, depressible spring tabs extending longitudinally outwardly at the outer end of said first bearing means and a radially outwardly extending lip segment at the distal end of each of said tabs which is adapted to engage behind the inner edge of either of said female bearing sleeves depending upon which end of the roller assembly is inserted on the spindle first.

6. The device as set forth in claim 3 in which said surface of each of said end caps is flat and said second 0 

1. A paint roller assembly and bearing means for use with a paint roller frame having a spindle and a handle in generally perpendicular relation to the axis of the spindle comprising: A. a generally thin-walled annular core of rigid material having,
 1. paint applicator material covering the outer surface thereof; B. a pair of end caps each having,
 1. an outer annular sleeve for frictional engagement in a respective end of said core, and
 2. an inner reduced diameter female bearing sleeve; C. a first bearing means, press-fitted on the inner end of the spindle for a rotating engagement within said female bearing sleeve of one of said end caps and including,
 1. collet means to maintain the paint roller assembly in a predetermined position on the spindle during normal usage; D. a second bearing means, press-fitted on the outer end of the spindle for a rotating engagement within said female bearing sleeve of the second of said end caps.
 2. an inner reduced diameter female bearing sleeve; C. a first bearing means, press-fitted on the inner end of the spindle for a rotating engagement within said female bearing sleeve of one of said end caps and including,
 2. The device as set forth in claim 1 including a tube extending between said end caps, each of the opposed ends of which is press-fitted over one of said female bearing sleeves.
 3. The device as set forth in claim 2 wherein the surface of each of said end caps, intermediate and connecting said outer sleeve and inner female bearing sleeve, is solid, presenting a continuous sealing surface for the chamber between said core and tube.
 4. The device as set forth in claim 1 wherein each of said end caps and first and second bearing means is of a molded plastic material, such as nylon.
 5. The device as set forth in claim 4 in which said collet means comprises a plurality of arcuate, depressible spring tabs extending longitudinally outwardly at the outer end of said first bearing means and a radially outwardly extending lip segment at the distal end of each of said tabs which is adapted to engage behind the inner edge of either of said female bearing sleeves depending upon which end of the roller assembly is inserted on the spindle first.
 6. The device as set forth in claim 3 in which said surface of each of said end caps is flat and said second bearing means includes an end closure over the distal end of the spindle and said end cap surface on the outer end of the roller assembly in coplanar with the outer surface of said end closure.
 7. The device as set forth in claim 4 in which each of said end caps includes a peripherally extending annular positioning shoulder for engagement against a respective annular edge of said core. 